Reader Tips

Maps on the Web: Red state election results by county compared to prevalence of food stamp use by county.

h/t Foseti

Per the Reader Tips topic, never, ever, ask a German, "How are you?" He will take it literally and describe his ingrown toenail, his digestive upsets, etc. Just stick to "Good day", although that may result in a discussion on the weather.

Had a sumptuous feast at a German restaurant yesterday evening. Wonderful food, and lots of it.

But now I have this strange urge to invade Poland.

Ate at a combination German/Chinese restaurant yesterday. Food was pretty good, but an hour after I ate I was hungry for power.

Great map, EBD. Montana is at the top, and those blue/food stamp areas are reservations. They love it when Obama visits.

Re: Germans video!

Nothing upsets me more that someone who makes excuses for other people's behaviour. If they choose to behave like assholes, let them suffer the consequences.

The slow change over to Islam is making progress.

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20131022184271

Joe Biden should feel right at home here.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BIDEN_MENTAL_HEALTH?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=

Some doubt that the Russian piracy charges against Greenpeace will stick. Pity.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20131022/184299679/Court-Papers-Show-Greenpeace-Targeted-Oil-Rig-Not-Ship.html

Anyone who has any doubts that the US is a police state will have those doubts erased when they read this story:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/23/miller-dc-businessman-faces-two-years-jail-unregis/
A raid of the guys place by 30 swat team goons and trashing his place yielded a 12 gauge shotgun round and a .270 casing. This is what gets you 2 years in jail in DC??? Of course, if you happen to be an anti-gun type who brings an equally illegal 30 round AR mag and broadcasts ones lawbreaking on TV, the cops don't seem at all interested.

Hopefully the NRA will get involved in this case.

GIVE. ME. A. BREAK.

Headline over at a video at the Globe and Mail:

Harper's popularity is growing, but is it for the right reasons?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/news-video/harpers-popularity-is-growing-but-maybe-not-for-the-right-reasons/article14995374/

Pollster Nik Nanos is a Liberal supporter. Would we ever see: Trudeau's popularity is growing, but is it for the right reasons?

Now, now, now.

Here's Noel Coward with some timely advice: "Don't let's be beastly to the Germans":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wveW9Tw2JKE

I'm not sure that video is quite right. It is all about the work ethic and perfectionism. We visited a pioneer museum with a fellow that had recently come from Ethiopia. some of the very basic home made household items that were common back then he said he could not figure out why they did not make them in ethiopia because they could benefit from them (like a hand crank washing machine). That's Germans, we must make things better. And when someone tries to make the human race better, well we just jump all over that. Bad move that WWII thing.

O Chianada.

H/T Mao Stlong* Lepolt. Flom Peking with beef jelky.

...-

"Governor General 'delighted' by reception in China, encourages Canadians to participate in change
Ottawa Citizen"

...-

"Toby, a 6-year-old Boston terrier, died in 2012 after his owners say he was sickened by chicken jerky pet treats made in China."

"Nearly 600 pets have died and more than 3,600 have been sickened in an ongoing, mysterious outbreak of illnesses tied to jerky treats made in China, federal animal health officials said Tuesday."

"Jerky treat mystery: Nearly 600 pets dead; still no source, FDA says"

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/pet-jerky-treat-mystery-nearly-600-animals-dead-still-no-8C11436330

*Ex-Liberal leader Rae's uncle, c/o Red China.

From Jed Babbin's "Zombie Republicans" at The American Spectator:

The Republican establishment isn’t only similar to the media and the Dems because they’re totally uncomfortable with conservatives. The other disabling factor is that the Republican establishment isn’t uncomfortable with big government. George W. Bush, the oxymoronic “big government conservative,” saw to that. The only difference between the Republican establishment and the hyper-liberal Obama establishment is a minor disagreement on the size of big government.

Related: Jeb Bush Joins the Cruz Bashers - Suggests Surrender as "Common Ground". Worth reading.

Here's an e-mail that I received from a friend almost 8 months ago, expressing his views on Obamacare. Its amazing how close his projections were.

March 26, 2013.

“Wow, what can go wrong here? Let me assess this based on my years of experience in this industry. The federal government is going to build 50 exchanges, using a data hub that doesn’t exist physically and in fact, the design hasn’t been solidified, and must be accessible to a variety of data processing technologies that range from archaic to old. Each of the 50 states have different eligibility rules, and with a significant number of states opting out, the federal government now has to learn the intricacies of each state’s Medicaid eligibility models which then scale to different applicability rules for different members of a given family. The thousands of pages of bureaucratic rules that will drive requirements haven’t been completed yet, and those requirements are needed to drive design not only for the application programs, but for the entire processing architecture. The issue of network, processor, and storage performance has to be decided, modeled and tested. To complicate matters, the convoluted federal procurement rules for hardware and software have to be adhered to, which require mixing different hardware brands, software packages and service providers. Add to this compliance analysis to validate and revalidate trusted sources of data. All legal requirements at the local, state, and federal level have to be met by the design. And last but not least, staffing up for customer support which requires hiring, training on applications not yet designed and real world tested, the creation of support documentation, building or retrofitting facilities for these folks, setting up backup sites for the required redundancies, plus hardening the sites for natural disaster power failures. Additionally, the people hired must meet the Equal Opportunity criteria, and all GUIs must be handicapped usable, as well as the facilities themselves. I could be here all evening defining additional work to be done. Oh, did I mention this will be done by next year. Now I know why this has never been attempted. We are a country made up of 50 separate and distinct states, with all their own rules of governing, and to make things more unworkable are all the federal rules that have to be adhered to. I think we the people are going to be safe for quite awhile here.”

Balks increasing, survey says consensus. See Balk Rule* Is Settled.

Neo-AGW PR Baseball PreChat WS 97% Edition.

"*Pigott said the cold is the toughest weather to play baseball in, and it can even impact the type of pitches thrown."

...-

"Cold Start to Test Pitchers in World Series at Boston"

"The arrival of cold weather in Boston will coincide with the start of the 2013 World Series, potentially impacting the baseball game.

The city's Red Sox will take on the St. Louis Cardinals Wednesday evening."

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/boston-world-series-weather/19063575

Yes we can!! The latest via drudge.
Saudi Arabia severs diplomatic ties with US over response to conflict in Syria.
This guy can screw up a one-car funeral.

Mao Stlong* Lepolt: Update.

It's tlue! Mao Stlong Jelky Tleats, aka Red China Jelky Tleats Kill Pets.

...-

"The FDA has No Idea Why Jerky Treats Are Killing Hundreds of Dogs
TIME - ‎9 minutes ago‎

Federal animal health officials announced Tuesday that Chinese jerky treats have caused a mysterious illness outbreak in more than 3,600 dogs (and ten cats) and the death of about 600 pets."

*See Bob Rae.

Take me, Khadr...
--------------------------------
Retired Army Brig. Gen. Stephen Xenakis is an anti-torture activist who spent years with prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He teared up when speaking of Khadr during at talk at the University of Alberta Tuesday night.

“Here is absolutely the gentlest, most decent men I have ever met in my life,” Xenakis said of Khadr.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2013/10/23/21215836.html

Of O'narcissist's hellthcare.

"According to an interview conducted by Ezra Klein, the Obamacare website is in “de facto shutdown” though the administration won’t call it that."

http://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2013/10/23/the-last-time-i-called-paris/#more-32637

...-

"'HealthCare.gov is in de facto shutdown’"

"Ezra Klein: We last talked about 10 days ago. So in the interim, what are your insurance industry sources saying has changed on HealthCare.gov?

Bob Laszewski: Really nothing."

http://nation.foxnews.com/2013/10/23/healthcaregov-de-facto-shutdown

Ms. Freeland denounces nepotism and says that some people get their job,not because they are qualified,but because of the job their father had.
She says this while sitting next to the shiny pony. Oops.

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/politics/archives/2013/10/20131023-142128.html

Liberal doo-doo. Smells in here.

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"Liberal Senator under fire for misuse of expenses
CBC.ca"

"Ex-Senate staffer ordered clothes, paid cable bill for boss"

"Former assistant to Colin Kenny quit after spending half her time on senator's personal tasks"

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ex-senate-staffer-ordered-clothes-paid-cable-bill-for-boss-1.2158666

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"RCMP believes former Liberal senator Mac Harb committed fraud, breach of trust over Senate expenses

pic.twitter.com/T196q0EzCX"